Hello all - It's been a hell of a lot of time of absence from me... Lots of things happened and besides having the series finale with no Sara in it, I had a major writers block... But thanks to all of you constantly clicking the Favorite/Alert button down there -and my therapist insisting on me not leaving things unfinished- I just had to continue and finish this story. So here it is... THANK YOU FOR STICKING WITH ME! (I might even write a story post-finale if you really want me to *wink*)

Chapter 19

A couple of weeks had passed and Neal had managed to avoid the moment of confrontation with Momma Caffrey, making sure to stay busy with doing the Rembrandt replica and preparing his own exhibition, working hand in hand with Elle and actually enjoying for the first time in his life the concept of work.

This life, was something to behold and beware. It almost seemed too perfect to be true. Neal felt afraid sometimes that when he woke up the next day it would all be gone so he had developed a routine of making sure he documented every day through an illustration in a sketchbook he kept under his side of the bed – Sara had moved in with him for the time being and he now had a side of the bed again.

He smiled at the thought. He was so close and yet so far, to reaching that famous happily ever after. He took his sketchpad and started working with lazy lines trying to capture the way the light of the dawn was pouring through the window and how this particular morning it was illuminating a very much naked leg and bottom of Sara's. She never slept naked, much to Neal's protests, but they had had a very interesting night and she just lost the battle to exhaustion to even put on her underwear before passing out. He grinned and made very fast lines and curves before she stirred; he took special care of using the black and the white and all the shades of grey in between provided by the pencil, to immortalize this very rare moment of peaceful bliss enhanced by light and shadows.

He finished the sketch with a satisfied smile. He had grown accustomed to drawing Sara in candid poses when she wasn't even looking but this time, he knew she would kill him if she ever found out about this particular setting. He closed the sketchbook and hid it back in its safe place before getting up for a swim.

When he returned to say goodbye to Sara and make sure she got up for work too, he froze seeing her stretching in the bed in all her naked glory with the sun fully bathing her porcelain skin.

"Morning, Caffrey" she said groggily with a lazy smile

Neal just stood there feeling the luckiest dude in the world "You know, a sight like this for an artist is just pure heaven"

Sara blushed a little. She wasn't shy with her body but she didn't usually parade herself naked. However, she just woke up feeling blissful. She smiled lazily "Is that your charming way of saying you would like to paint me… like this?"

If only she knew, thought Neal but just smiled crookedly "No. It is my way of telling you how much I enjoy the sight of you every morning" he paused, cast a rare shy look down and then added "and how much it would mean to keep it like this for… a very long time"

Sara grinned and couldn't miss the opportunity to tease him. A shy Neal Caffrey was a rare thing but when it came to expressing feelings and desires along the lines of vulnerability, she just couldn't let it go "Oh? I don't know what you mean" she said with mischief in her smile.

Neal chuckled knowing exactly what she was doing and he just shook his head "I have to go darling, I'm already late for work" he said getting his game together once again and using the term of endearment in a cocky playful way

"Have a good day, sweetheart" she answered equally while putting her robe on – "Oh Neal, I'm having lunch with Melissa today"

That got Neal frozen. He slowly turned to look at her with a frown "Why?"

"What do you mean why? She is your mother, she called and I agreed. And since you refuse to talk to her, you leave with no other choice"

Sara stood up from the bed and walked to Neal. She put a hand on his chest fixing an already perfect tie and sensing the tension in him, she put a hand on his face and said "Neal, you should talk to her. It was her idea after all"

"Oh so I should talk to her about business?" he said with an octave higher in his tone

Sara just sighed "There's only so much time you can postpone this" she added tenderly before reaching up for a brief kiss.

Lunch went great. Actually too great, Sara thought. No hidden motives, no awkward questions or silences, just a lunch between two women having a good time.

"So, Melissa… the salmon was great but, are you gonna tell me the real reason why'd you ask me to come have lunch with you?" asked Sara. With a woman like this, she wasn't sure she could trust implicitly

Melissa just smirked. God it was such an identical smirk to Neal's, thought Sara.

"No beating around the bush with you, huh?" answered the older woman, cleaned her mouth delicately with her napkin, took a sip of her wine and cleared her throat "I wanted to get to know you"

Sara lifted her eyebrows in mild surprise but also expecting more.

Melissa chuckled "Ok fine, Sara, here it goes. I may have not been very present in my son's life but that doesn't mean I haven't been watching over him… with Richard's help of course. I'm sure Neal has put you up to date as to who Richard is"

Sara just nodded expecting the other shoe to drop

"Well, the thing is… my son is a very smart man but he tends to be downright moronic when it comes to women. It's his kryptonite, so to speak" she said pausing a little to gauge Sara's reaction and then continued "And, you're the first woman that I can actually approve of"

Sara wanted to scream, kick and become the Hulk right there. The balls on this woman! How could she claim to approve or not something about Neal when she hadn't been in his life, either physically nor emotionally. She wanted to say so much but no words came actually to her mouth, it was all a mass of shapeless rage.

"Look Sara, I know you must be thinking I have no right to approve or not something where Neal is concerned but circumstances are peculiar in our lives and it's just the way it is. And he is still my son, which gives me all the right in the world to look out for him" she said reaching for her wine again and before taking a sip she added "It was actually a compliment you know? I like you, Sara and I'm good with you being in Neal's life. I mean, what more could you ask from your mother in law, huh?" she finally said with a crooked smile

Sara was left speechless and it suddenly occurred to her a horrible possibility… "Did you have anything to do with Kate's dead?" she blurted out the question as if she was asking about the weather

Melissa's expression changed and a frown appeared in her normally cheerful face "Are you seriously accusing me of murder?"

"Well, did you?" Sara asked again with a serious expression

"Of course not! Though I must admit I was very relieved that it happened" said Melissa and then added "If you think about it, Kate is the reason everything went downhill for Neal… but she is also the reason why you met him with the Raphael and all of that, so…"

"Ok stop, this is too weird. You know too much and it is just not fair that you see our lives as if it were some sort of reality show where only you can see it all" said Sara having heard enough "I suggest you talk to Neal and see if you can get him to approve YOU being good in his life"

And with that, Sara stood up and left with no more words and a lot of sympathy for Neal. Maybe she would stop persuading Neal to reach out to his mother, God knows what would come out of that… But Sara was sure of one thing: Now more than ever, she was hell bent on helping Neal get out of all this crap, being manipulated and led on by people, whether it was the FBI, his enemies, his girlfriends, crappy parents or his past in general. He deserved to really be free and for once in his life, make a choice of his own.